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Thursday, April 12, 2012

Eastern Orthodox priorities

I'm going to post a recommended reading list from a prominent Orthodox blog. Notice what's missing from this lengthy list: it's all historical and philosophical theology. Nothing specifically on exegetical theology. No commentaries. No OT or NT theologies. No exegetical monographs.

Eastern Orthodox theology isn't based on divine revelation; it's based on man-made tradition and speculation. Eastern Orthodox theology is an exercise in the history of ideas.

Now there's nothing wrong with historical and philosophical theology. But Christianity is first and foremost a revealed religion. That's the starting point. That's the primary source and standard.

Recommended Reading

Recommended Reading List

Historical Figures Arius
Barnes, Michel R., & Williams, Daniel H., eds., Arianism after Arius: Essays on the Development of the Fourth Century Trinitarian Conflicts, T & T ClarkSaint Athanasius
Anatolios, Kahlid, Athanasius :The Coherence of His Thought, Blackwell
Gwynn, David M., The Eusebians: The Polemic of Athanasius of Alexandria and the Construction of the Arian Controversy, Oxford
Robertson, Jon M., Christ as Mediator A Study of the Theologies of Eusebius of Caesarea, Marcellus of Ancrya, and Athanasius of Alexandria, OxfordSaint Augustine
Armgstrong, A. H., St. Augustine and Christian Platonism, Villanova Univ. Press
Babcock, W.S., “Augustine and Paul: The Case of Romans IX” in Studia Patristica 16
Bammel, C.P., “Augustine, Origen and the Exegesis of St. Paul” inAugustinian Studies 32 (1992)
Bonner, G.., Freedom and Necessity: St. Augustine’s Teaching on Divine Power and Human Freedom, CUA
Bourke, V., Augustine’s View of Reality, Villanova Univ. Press.
Brown, Peter, Augustine of Hippo: A Biography, Univ. of Calif. Press
Burns, J.P., The Development of Augustine’s Doctrine of Operative Grace, Etudes Augustiniennes
Cary, Phillip, Inner Grace: Augustine in the Tradition of Plato and Paul, Oxford
Evans, G. R., Augustine on Evil, Cambridge
van Fleitern, F., ed., Collectanea Augustiniana: Augustine–Second Founder of the Faith, Peter Lang Pub.
Gilson, Etienne, The Christian Philosophy of Saint Augustine, Random House
Gorday, P., Principles of Patristic Exegesis: Romans 9-11 in Origen, John chrysostom, and Augustine, Edwin Mellon Press
Harrison, C., Rethinking Augustine’s Early Theology: An Argument for Continuity, Oxford
Kretzmann, Norman, The Cambridge Companin to Augustine, Oxford
Lawless, George, Augustine of Hippo and His Monastic Rule, Clarendon Press
____________, & Dodaro, Robert, eds., Augustine and His Critics, Routledge
Markus, R.A., Saeculum: History and Society in the Thought of St. Augustine, Cambridge
Mattheews, Gareth B., ed., The Augustinian Tradition Univ. of Calif. Press.
O’Connell, R. The Origin of the Soul in St. Augustine’s Later Works, Fordham
_________, St. Augustine’s Early Theory of Man, Cambridge_________, St. Augustine’s Platonism, Villanova Univ. Press
Ogliari, D., Gratia Et Certamen: The Relationship Between grace and Free Will in the Discussion of Augustine with the So-Called SemiPelagians, Leuven Univ. Press.
Rombs, R., Saint Augustine and the Fall of the Soul: Beyond O’Connell and His Critics, CUP
Studer, Basil, The Grace of Christ and the Grace of God in Augustine of Hippo: Christocentrism or Theocentrism?, Liturgical Press
Teske, R., ed., Augustine: Presbyter Factus Sum, Peter Lang Pub.
Weaver, R. Divine Grace and Human Agency: A Study of the Semi-Pelagian Controversy, CUP
Wurst, G., Augustine and Manichaeism in the Latin West, BrillSaint Basil the Great
Delcogliano, Mark, Basil of Caesarea’s Anti-Eunomian Theory of Names: Christian Theology and Late Antique Philosophy in the fourth Century Trinitarian Controversy, Brill.Saint Cyril of Alexandria
Keating, Daniel A., The Appropriation of Divine Life in Cyril of Alexandria,Oxford
Koen, Lars, The Saving Passion: Incarnational and Soteriological Thought in Cyril in Alexandria’s Commentary on the Gospel According to St. John,University of Uppsala
Loon, H. van., The Dyophysite Christology of Cyril of Alexandria, Brill
McGuckin, John, St. Cyril of Alexandria: The Christological Controversy : Its History, Theology, and Texts, SVS
McLinion, Steven A., Words, Imagery and the Mystery of Christ: A Reconstruction of Cyril of Alexandria’s Christology, Brill
Welch, Lawrence J., Christology and Eucharist in the Early Thought of Cyril of Alexandria, Catholic Scholars Press.Saint Cyril of Jerusalem
Drijvers, J.W., Cyril of Jerusalem: Bishop and City, BrillSaint Dionysius
Kharlamov, Vladimir, The Beauty of the Unity and the Harmony of the Whole: The Concept of Theosis in the Theology of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, Wipf & Stock
Wear, Sarah, & Dillion, John, Dionysius the Areopagite and the Neoplatonic Tradition, AshgateEunomius
Vaggi0ne, Richard, Eunomius of Cyzicus and the Nicene Revolution, OxfordSaint Gregory of Nazianzus
Winslow, Donald F., The Dynamis of Salvation, Philadelphia Patristic Foundation
Beeley, Christopher A., Gregory of Nazianzus on the Trinity and Knowledge of God: In Your Light We Shall See Light, OxfordSaint Gregory of Nyssa
Barnes, Michel, The Power of God: Dunamis in Gregory of Nyssa’s Trinitarian Theology, CUP
Harrison, Verna, Grace and HUman Freedom According to St. Gregory of Nyssa, Edwin Mellon Press
Krivocheine, Basil, ‘Simplicity of the Divine Nature and the Distinctions in God, According to St. Gregory of Nyssa,’ St. Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly, 21 (1977) : 76-104.
Martin, Laird, Gregory of Nyssa and the Grasp of Faith: Union, Knowledge and Divine Presence, Oxford
Smith, J. Warren, Passion and Paradise: Human and DIvine Emotion in the Thought of gregory of Nyssa, Herder & Herder
Turcescu, Lucian, Gregory of Nyssa and the Concept of Divine Persons,Oxford
Zachhuber, Johannes, Human Nature in Gregory of Nyssa: Philosophical Background and Theological Significance, BrillSaint Hilary of Poitiers
Weedman, M., The Trinitarian Theology of Hilary of Poitiers, BrillSaint Irenaeus of Lyon
Steenberg, M., Irenaeus on Creation: The Cosmic Christ and the Saga of Redemption, BrillSaint Maximus the Confessor
Bathrellos, Demetrios,The Byzantine Christ, Oxford
Cooper, Adam, The Body in St. Maximus the Confessor: Holy Flesh, Wholly Deified, Oxford
Farrell, Joseph, Free Choice in St. Maximus the Confessor, St. Tikhon’s Seminary Press
Maximus, The Disputation With Pyrrhus of Our Father Among the Saints Maximus the Confessor St. Tikhon’s Seminary Press
Tollefsen, Torstein Theodor, The Christocentric Cosmology of St. Maximus the Confessor, Oxford
Toronen, Melchisidec, Union and Distinction in the Thought of St. Maximus the Confessor, OxfordSt. Methodius
Patterson, L.G., Methodius of Olympus: Divine Soverignty, Human Freedom and Life in Christ, CUAOrigen
Benjamins, R., “Origen’s Concept of Free Will in Relationship to the Fight against Opposing Powers (de Principiis III. 2-3) in Studia Patristica 26
Boyd, W.J.P., “Origen and Pharaoh’s Hardened Heart: A Study on Justification and Election in St. Paul and Origen” in Studia Patristica 7
Crouzel, Henri, Origen, T & T Clark
Hanson, R.P.C., Allegory and Event: A Study of the Sources and Signifiance of Origen’s Interpretation of Scripture, WJK
Lubac, Henri, History and Spirit: The Understanding of Scripture According to Origen, Ignatius
Tzamalikos, P., Origen-Cosmology and Ontology of Time, Brill
___________, Origen: Philosophy of History and Eschatology, Brill
Widdicombe, Peter, The Fatherhood of God from Oprigen to Athanasius,OxfordSaint Photius
Dvornik, Francis, The Photian Schism, Cambridge
Haugh, Richard, Photius and the Carolingians
Photios, The Mystagogy of the Holy Spirit by Patriarch PhotiosSaint Gregory Palamas
Meyendorff, John, A Study of Gregory Palamas
Meyendorff, John, Saint Gregory Palamas and Orthodox Spirituality
Papademetriou, George, An Introduction to St. Gregory Palamas
Papademetriou, George, Maimondies and Palamas on God,
Papademetriou, George, The human body according to Saint Gregory Palamas
Palamas, Gregory, The Triads
Palamas, Gregory, Dialogue Between an Orthodox and a Barlaamite
Palamas, Gregory, Treatise on the Spiritual Life
Palamas, Gregory, Mary the Mother of God: Sermons by Saint Gregory Palamas
Palamas, Gregory, The Homilies of Saint Gregory Palamas, (3 Vols.)Palamas, Gregory,The One Hundred and Fifty Chapters, Ed. & trans. Robert E. SinkewiczSt. SophroniusAllen, Pauline. trans., Sophronius of Jerusalem and the Seventh Century Heresy: The Synodal Letter and Other Documents, OxfordTopicsTrinitarianismBehr, John, The Way to Nicea, SVS________, The Nicene Faith, SVSFriedman, Russell L., Medieval Trinitarian Thought from Aquinas to Ockham, CambridgePapadakis, Aristeides, Crisis in Byzantium: The Filioque Crisis in the Patriarchate of the Gregory II of Cyprus (1283-1289) , SVSRadde-Gallwitz, Andrew., Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa and the Transformation of Divine Simplicity, OxfordSiencienski, A. Edward, The Filioque: A History of a Doctrinal Controversy, OxfordChristologyAdams, Marilyn McCord, What Sort of Human Nature?: Medieval Philosophy and the Systematics of Christology, MarquetteChazelle, Celia & Cubit, Catherine, ed., The Crisis of the Oikoumene: TheThree Chapters and the Failed Quest for Unity in the Sixth Century Mediterranean, BrepolsClayton, Paul B., The Christology of Theodoret of Cyrus, OxfordFairbairn, Donald, Grace and Christology in the Early Church, OxfordFrend, W.H.C., The Rise of the Monophysite Movement, Cambridge
Gavrilyuk, Paul L., The Suffering of the Impassible God: The Dialectics of Patristic Thought, OxfordGrillmeier, Aloys, Christ in Christian Tradition, WJKHovorun, Cyril, Will, Action and Freedom: Christological Controversies in the Seventh Century, Brill
Lang, U.M. John Philoponus and the Controversy over Chalcedon in the Sixth Century: A Study and Translation of the Arbiter, Spicilegium, Sacrum Lovaniense, 47 PeetersMuller, Richard, Christ and the Decree: Predestination and Christology in Reformed Theology from Calvin to Perkins, BakerTorrance, I. Christology After Chalcedon: Severus of Antioch and Sergius the Monophysite, Wipf & Stock
Verghese, P., ‘The Monothelite Controversy’, Greek Orthodox Theological Review, 13 (1968)Soteriology/DeificationRussell, Norman, The Doctrine of Deification in the Greek Patristic Tradition, Oxford IconographyBingham, Steven, Early Christian Attitudes Towards Images, Orthodox Research Institute._____________, Epiphanius of Salamis, Doctor of Iconoclasm?: The Deconstruction of a Myth, Orthodox Research Institute.Chazelle, Celia, The Crucified God in the Carolingian Era: Theology and Art of Christ’s Passion, CambridgeNoble, Thomas F.X., Images, Iconoclasm and the Carolingians, Univ. of PennsylvaniaEcclesiaologyO’Connell, Patrick, The Ecclesiology of St. Nicephorus: Pentarchy and Primacy, Pont. Institutum Studiorum OrientaliumEcclesiastical History
Albergio, G., Christian Unity: The Council of Ferrara-Florence 1438/9-1989, Leuven
Allen, Pauline, & Jeffreys, Elizabeth, ed., The Sixth Century, End or Begining? Australian Association for Byzantine StudiesCameron, Averil, Continuity and Change in Sixth Century Byzantium, Variorum
Chadwick, Henry, East and West: The Making of a Rift in the Church, Oxford
Chazelle, C., & Cubitt, C. (eds.), The Crisis of the Oikumene: The Three Chapters and the Failed Quest for Unity in the Sixth Century Mediterranean, Brespols
Chrysos, Evangelos, The Ecclesiastical Polity of Justinian in the Controversy of the Three Chapters, ThessalonicaGill, Joseph, The Council of Florence, Cambridge_________, Byzantium and the Papacy 1198-1400, New BrunswickHaldon, J.F., Byzantium in the Seventh Century: The Transformation of a Culture, CambridgeHussey, J.M., The Orthodox Church in the Byzantine Empire, OxfordMerrills, A.H., ed., Vandals, Romans and Berbers: New Perspectives on Late Antique North Africa, AshgateMcKitterick, Rosamond, History and Memory in the Carolingian World,CambridgeMorrison, Karl F., Tradition and Authority in the Western Church, 300-1140, PrincetonPohl, Walter, ed., Kingdoms of the Empire: The Integration of Barbarians in Late Antiquity, BrillRichards, Jefffrey, The Popes and the Papacy in the Early Middle Ages, 476-752, RoutledgeStump, P.H., The Reforms of the Counil of Constance, LeidenWallace-Hadrill, John Michael, The Frankish Church, OxfordPatristic TheologyMedieval Theology/PhilosophyCross, Richard, Duns Scotus on God, AshgateCullen, Christopher M., Bonaventure, OxfordHankey, W.J., God in Himself: Aquinas’ Doctrine of God as Expounded in the Suma Theologiae, OxfordMontagnes, Bernard, The Doctrine of the Analogy of Being According to Thomas Aquinas, MarquetteWhippel, John F., the Metaphysical Thought of thomas Aquinas: From Finite Being to Uncreated Being, CUAPhilosophyAncient and Late AntiquityArmstrong, A.H., “Form, Individual and Person in Plotinus.” Dionysius1(1977)____________., “Two Views of Freedom.” Studia Patristica 18 (1982)Barnes, Jonathan, Porphyry: An Introduction, Oxford
Berchman, Robert M., From Philo to Origen: Middle Platonism in Transition, Scholars Press
Boys-Stones, G. A., Post Hellenistic Philosophy: A Study of its Development from the Stoics to Origen, Oxford
Bradshaw, David, Aristotle East and West: Metaphysics and the Division of Christendom, OxfordCharles, David, Aristotle on Meaning and Essence, OxfordDillon, John, Alcinous: The Handbook of Platonism, Oxford_________, The Middle Platonists, 80 B.C. to A.D. 220, Rev. Ed., Cornell_________, The Heirs of Plato: A Study of the Old Academy (347-274 BC), Oxford_________, & Gerson, Lloyd, Neoplatonic Philosophy, HackettGersh, Stephen, From Iamblichus to Eriugena: An Investigation of the Prehistory and Evolution of the Pseudo-Dionysian Tradition, BrillGerson, Lloyd, Plotinus, Routledge___________, The Cambridge History of Philosophy in Late Antiquity, CambridgeIerodiiakonou, Katerina, Ed., Byzantine Philosophy and Its Ancient Sources,Oxford Turner, John D., & Majercik, Ruth, eds., Gnosticism and Later Platonism: Themes, Figures and Texts, Society of Biblical LiteratureWallis, R.T, NeoPlatonism, HackettWestra, Laura, Plotinus and Freedom: A Meditation on Enneads 6.8, Edwin Mellon PressFree Will & DeterminismRobert Kane, The Significance of Free Will, OxfordRobert Kane, A Contemporary Introduction to Free Will, OxfordPeter van Inwagen, An Essay on Free Will, OxfordTimothy O’Connor, ed., Agents, Causes and Events, Oxford Gary Watson, ed., Free Will, OxfordThe Problem of EvilAdams, Marilyn McCord, ed., The Problem of Evil, OxfordKvanvig, Jonathan L., The Possibility of an All Knowing God, St. Martin’s Press Peterson, Michael, ed.,The Problem of Evil: Selected Readings, Univ. Of Notre DamePlantinga, Alvin, God, Freedom and EvilSwinburne, Richard, Providence and the Problem of Evil, Oxfordvan Inwagen, Peter The Problem of Evil, Oxford GodCreel, Richard, Divine Impassibility, Wipf & Stock
Hughes, Christopher, On A Complex Theory of a Simple God: An Investigation of Aquinas’ Doctrine of God, CornellMiller, Barry, A Mostly Unlikely God: A Philosophical Enquiry, Notre DameMorris, Thomas V., Anselmian Explorations, Notre DameWierenga, Edward, R., The Nature of God: An Inquiry into the Divine Attributes, CornellEthical TheoryAdams, Robert, Finite and Infinite Goods: A Framework for Ethics, OxfordDancy, Jonathan, Ethics Without Principles, OxfordHusrthouse, Rosalind, On Virtue Ethics, Oxford

4 comments:

Of course, they may have another reading list elsewhere; or they may not feel qualified to pontificate on classic Bible commentary. (And goodness knows there's plenty of Bible commentary in Catholic Eastern theology, so I assume Eastern Orthodox is the same. Also, a lot of those books and saints are heavily Biblical in their thought.)

But let's assume your take is correct, and this guy didn't list Bible commentaries on purpose.

I'm not Eastern Orthodox, but I think you're not really getting this from a liturgical church's point of view.

I'm Catholic. Every time I go to Mass or receive one of the Sacraments, I have direct action of God in my life, and revelation. Every time I go to Mass or another liturgy (ie, Liturgy of the Hours), there's Scripture, which serves both as God's revelation in the Word and as commentary on the Sacraments. There are sermons/homilies and hymns, which serve as commentary on the Scriptures; and then of course you learn things about the Scriptures from your parents and teachers.

If you do this from an early age, and if your priest and parents and teachers are reasonably well-versed in your church's traditions about the Scriptures, you will have a lot of knowledge stored up. When you go and read the Bible, it will have some surprises; but when you read classic commentaries from your own tradition, they won't have much in the way of surprises at all. Pointed pricking of the conscience, yes, always. Amazing new info, no.

I can still remember that, when I first encountered patristics, I didn't see much point in anything besides the hagiography, because what the ancient guys said was exactly in tune with what my priest and my mom said -- or it was something I hadn't heard, but on a boring topic that I could care less about.

I have done a lot of reading in patristics now, and I'm busy translating a medieval commentary about a Bible book. But although there's a lot in it that's interesting, it still pretty much is either exactly the same stuff I was always taught, or something peripheral that people can disagree about. (Unless I'm reading a heretical guy, or someone very experimental like Origen.) Very rarely do I encounter anything really different about Bible stuff.

So yeah, I'd be hard-pressed to make a Bible commentary reading list of "essentials", because there are lots of great commentaries by great thinkers and holy people but none of them are essential. You can start wherever you want if you really feel like it, but the Bible's not trapped between covers. Study's good, but kind of secondary, like if people thought they had to learn to play organ in order to really know hymns. (And of course, it's very nice that some Protestant churches have all these organ classes, so to speak.)

Going to Mass and listening to the cycle of readings and the homilies, and then trying to do God's will after being fed by and on Him, is how you really live and learn the Bible. (Especially when you get poked a lot by your parents when the readings that week make moral points obviously meant for you.)

Bible study is mostly just an exercise in appreciation of the beauty and intricate plan of the Word, for me. It's more contemplative than analytical. If people want to make it a puzzle that's fine with me, but it seems a bit beside the point.

But why is a commentary on a church writer essential reading and a Bible commentary not? That would seem to support Steve's contention.

There are numerous exhortations in the Bible to STUDY it. And ALSO to contemplate and meditate on it. Sometimes it doesn't seem like the two actions are separated in the mind of the biblical author.And of course, how could we know which action is better (or if either one is justifiable) unless we analyse the text to know the mind and will of God?

And another problem with majoring on patristics is that there's no ultimate corrective from God to warn us off when the patristic author starts going off the tracks. Sure, you can appeal to what modern Rome says (which is in practice what pretty much all Roman apologists do) but that is not the same as seeking correction from God's Word.

"...or they may not feel qualified to pontificate on classic Bible commentary."

Which confirms my point about their priorities.

"(And goodness knows there's plenty of Bible commentary in Catholic Eastern theology, so I assume Eastern Orthodox is the same. Also, a lot of those books and saints are heavily Biblical in their thought.)"

Which misses the point. There's a difference between meditations on the Bible and accurate exegesis.

"I'm Catholic. Every time I go to Mass or receive one of the Sacraments, I have direct action of God in my life, and revelation."

Assuming Catholic sacramental theology is correct. But if it's incorrect, then you're describing the placebo effect.

"Every time I go to Mass or another liturgy (ie, Liturgy of the Hours), there's Scripture, which serves both as God's revelation in the Word and as commentary on the Sacraments."

i) There's a difference between hearing Scripture and understanding Scripture.

ii) Lectionaries are selective, and tend to excerpt the inspirational portions of Scripture.

iii) Lectors are often poor readers. They don't read expressively. They don't know how to phrase.

"There are sermons/homilies and hymns, which serve as commentary on the Scriptures; and then of course you learn things about the Scriptures from your parents and teachers."

You keep missing the point: it's not just a question of *commenting* on Scripture, but ascertaining the meaning. How exegetically accurate are these homilies?

"If you do this from an early age, and if your priest and parents and teachers are reasonably well-versed in your church's traditions about the Scriptures, you will have a lot of knowledge stored up."

You store up what you've heard, which may be a lot of misinformation rather than knowledge.

"but when you read classic commentaries from your own tradition, they won't have much in the way of surprises at all."

Naturally they won't be very surprising inasmuch as they reflect a confessional tradition. But it's a mistake to confine yourself to commentaries in your own tradition. That leads to spiritual inbreeding. An insular piety that never questions received answers.

Cont. "I can still remember that, when I first encountered patristics, I didn't see much point in anything besides the hagiography, because what the ancient guys said was exactly in tune with what my priest and my mom said...I have done a lot of reading in patristics now, and I'm busy translating a medieval commentary about a Bible book. But although there's a lot in it that's interesting, it still pretty much is either exactly the same stuff I was always taught, or something peripheral that people can disagree about....Very rarely do I encounter anything really different about Bible stuff."

That's because, by your own admission, you only read stuff from your own tradition. You never move beyond your comfort zone. You don't read stuff that would challenge your unexamined assumptions.

"Study's good, but kind of secondary..."

Secondary if you're indifferent to understanding and applying the word of God.

"Going to Mass and listening to the cycle of readings and the homilies, and then trying to do God's will after being fed by and on Him, is how you really live and learn the Bible."

You don't know what you're missing. You don't put yourself in a position to know what you're missing. You never lead the compound. It's like a cult.

"Bible study is mostly just an exercise in appreciation of the beauty and intricate plan of the Word, for me. It's more contemplative than analytical. If people want to make it a puzzle that's fine with me, but it seems a bit beside the point."